'Doing something wrong' Anxiety?

[AnxiousForever]

Hello. I am new and always anxious.

So I have the 'normal' health anxiety. I get a symptom, or imagine a symptom, google it and have cancer or MS. From what I know about anxiety this is super common but I imagine like most of us the logical part of my brain fails to override the anxious part.

I don't have social anxiety, planes, or the like.

What I do have that seems less common is the idea I've done something wrong. It's usually the fear I have accidentally broken the law but can extend to work or upsetting someone. As an example I can worry I have accidentally bagged something on the self-checkout that I didn't pay for or I walk away from a payment terminal and then worry it didn't go though. This results in my obsessing over receipts to make sure each item is accounted for and in come cases I have been out of my mind with worry for days worrying a transaction won't come up in my bank account and the sense of relief when it does is immediately taken over by another worry (back to health or something else).

It's really stressful and has me on edge for most of my life. It annoys my friends/family who can't understand why I stress about restaurant receipts not in case they've charged me for something I didn't have but rather missed something I did have. It doesn't make you popular. In a way it's quite funny from the outside but it really isn't fun on the inside.

Does anyone else get that?

[AntsyVee]

This is very, very, common among people with OCD. Have you been diagnosed with OCD?

[AnxiousForever]

This is very, very, common among people with OCD. Have you been diagnosed with OCD?

No.

I've never really gone to professionals about my anxiety. I know I should, and am considering it now, but to be honest I am looking to maybe book time with a therapist rather than going though my doctor and the NHS.

I guess I could have OCD. I never really thought of if it's different to anxiety really so I always search for it in combination with anxiety and never found it listed as a type. It's almost always either health or social situations.

[AntsyVee]

The "what if" thinking is also common in GAD, but what you are describing, is very prevalent among OCD. I've known people with OCD who didn't want to drive because every time they got home and parked the car in the garage, they had to check the car for dents and blood. They worried that they hit someone out while driving and didn't remember it.

The other thing that lends itself to OCD is that you often have health anxiety, which is also another type of OCD.

I definitely would look into a therapist. Why waste any more time letting this control your life?

[AnxiousForever]

The "what if" thinking is also common in GAD, but what you are describing, is very prevalent among OCD. I've known people with OCD who didn't want to drive because every time they got home and parked the car in the garage, they had to check the car for dents and blood. They worried that they hit someone out while driving and didn't remember it.

Yes I do that too. Check the car for dents in case I knocked something or caused an accident. It doesn't stop me driving but I do worry.


The other thing that lends itself to OCD is that you often have health anxiety, which is also another type of OCD.


Does OCD give you the same physical symptoms of anxiety? It's why I never considered it because I always assumed it was just the act of checking, then it's resolved, and you're done but with me it carries into everyday life where I get the fatigue/shortness of breath/lightheadness/irritability stuff. I can check the car for dents but it won't stop me worrying.


I definitely would look into a therapist. Why waste any more time letting this control your life?

I will. I've always been skeptical of if it would work but it can't hurt.

[AntsyVee]

Yes, OCD can cause the physical symptoms.

Therapy, like anything, is that the more you put into it the more you get out of it. If you go in with the mindset that it won't help, then you have an uphill battle. A good therapist can teach you a lot of techniques to help with your anxiety, and hold you accountable, but it's up to you to practice them when the therapist is not around.

[Chocolateface]

Wow you have just said what I feel. Take Thursday, I left work after other people, saw the clock in my car as 17: something but was convinced I had left early and would be in trouble. Or if I send an email I constantly check it went to the right person with the right attachment.

You are not alone feeling like this.